Hybe started out as a small company that was struggling. But now, the company is the biggest entertainment company in South Korea. Thanks to their artists BTS. But, not even BTS can save the company from its misfortunes regarding girl groups. Yes, with the current Le Sserafim scandal going around, people can’t help but go back to the time when Hybe almost got broke because of its previous girl group. In this article, I will tell you all about the scandals and how Hybe can’t ward off its bad luck with Girl Groups.
Hybe, which was previously known as Big Hit Entertainment, is a company founded by Bang Si-hyuk in the year 2005. Hybe has now become house to its subsidiaries which include Big Hit music that has BTS and Tomorrow X Together. Further, its subsidiaries are Pledis Entertainment (SEVENTEEN), Source Music (GLAM, G-FRIEND, Le Sserafim), Belift Lab (Enhypen), and KOZ Entertainment (fromis_9).
I’ll now tell about the two major scandals that took place because of Hybe girl groups.
Hybe’s history
Hybe began as the Big Hit Entertainment in 2005 by Bang Si-hyuk. The company’s first group was a vocal trio called 8Eight. It featured Baek Chan, Lee Hyun, and Joo Hee. Further, Big Hit also signed a joint management contract with JYP Entertainment for the popular group 2PM. In 2012, the label launched its first girl group, GLAM, which eventually disbanded.
Big Hit got its breakthrough through the boy group BTS as it started gaining worldwide recognition around 2015. All the debts and problems that GLAM left them with were slowly covered with BTS’s phenomenal success. In 2018, Big Hit and CJ E&M created an entertainment agency called Belift Lab which now has the boy group Enhypen which debuted in 2020. In 2019, Big Hit launched its second boy group, 6 years after BTS’s debut, Tomorrow X Together. The same year itself, they also acquired Source Music.
Big Hit became the major shareholder in Pledis Entertainment in 2020, which meant the artists were still independent but got the chance to be promoted more worldwide. In the same year, Big Hit also acquired Zico’s KOZ Entertainment.
Hybe girl groups scandals
However, in 2021, it was announced that Big Hit Entertainment was undergoing a rebranding and changed its name to Hybe Corporation. Therefore, Big Hit Entertainment is now Big Hit Music. Since then, Hybe has ventured into international markets too, acquiring Ithaca, which is house to artists like Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande.
GLAM
GLAM was a girl group that debuted in 2012. It was managed by Source Music and produced by Big Hit Entertainment. It consisted of 5 members, namely, Zinni, Trinity, Jiyeon, Dahee, and Miso. The group fared well for most of its duration. In December 2012, Big Hit announced member Trinity would be leaving the group for personal reasons, and then the group went on to become a quartet.
The real trouble came in September 2014 when the very popular and respected actor Lee Byung Hun came out to reveal that he was being harassed by two women with a video of his. One of the women turned out to be member Dahee, who, along with model Lee Ji-yeon was trying to extort 5 billion won from the actor. In January 2015, Dahee was sentenced to one year in prison and a 2 years suspension notice. The same day, all members ended their contracts, and GLAM was disbanded.
Le Sserafim
After this scandal, Hybe didn’t launch any girl groups for the longest time, until 2022. In March 2022, Hybe confirmed that it would be launching a girl group in May 2022. The group Le Sserafim was announced and also six members who are: Sakura, Garam, Eunchae, Chaewon, Kazuha, and Yunjin. On May 2, 2022, the girls released their first EP, Fearless. The girls even had their first music show win within 8 days of debut.
But just some days later, one of the members’ mistreatment in the past came up. Kim Garam is currently embroiled in bullying allegations after her past victims have started speaking up. Further to create more trouble, a Korean media house, Dispatch, revealed that their Music Bank win was rigged too. Votes were manipulated by KBS to favor Le Sserafim so that they could win.
Although this allegation hasn’t been confirmed yet, but Hybe is under fire for protecting an artist that has had a history of being a bully. On May 20, 2022, Hybe announced that Garam is going on a hiatus for the investigations, and Le Sserafim will promote as a five-member group.
Doesn’t this make you think, too, that Hybe has cursed luck with girl groups?
Also Read: LE SSERAFIM Kim Garam’s New Victim Speaks Up And HYBE Addresses The Accusations
